i'll talk about this new threat with the former new mexico governor, bill richardson. i was with him in north korea during another tense nuclear standoff with the west. and we're learning why a phone call between the president and the house speaker did not go well. and what it could mean for your taxes. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> u.s. officials are scrambling to respond to new threats from two of the most dangerous regimes in the world right now. north korea's surprise rocket launch is raising fears that the communist nation is closer to being able to fire its nuclear weapons long distance, perhaps, as far as the united states. and the syrian regime appears to be escalating its bloody and destabilizing civil wars, by launching scud missiles. we have extensive coverage, beginning with syria's missile attacks. let's go our foreign affairs correspondent, jill dougherty. she's got the latest. jill? >> hey, wolf. u.s. military satellites are tracking those missiles and a u.s. official tells cnn that even in the last few days, four of the missiles,